Originally published by L.S. Media. March 30th 2009.

For a time it looked as though the band that had spawned classic albums such as Master of Puppets, …And Justice for All and Ride the Lightning had reached a dead end, in the studio and on tour. So much so that even loyal fans and critics started questioning the band’s future when they released St. Anger in 2003.

With the release of Death Magnetic last year, all of that has been forgiven and forgotten. This album has transferred so well to the live show that the band have largely, (with a couple of exceptions) scrubbed clean the years 1993 to 2007 off their set list.

Arriving on stage to the sound of old spaghetti western music, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield and Robert Trujillo came on, not so much as cowboys but as four expert musicians ready to make sure that nobody in the O2 Arena left either unhappy or let down by the stage show.

Opening the set with the barnstorming That was just your Life from Death Magnetic was a master stroke, to follow it straight away with The End of the Line was just pure class. From that moment on Metallica never put a note wrong.

It was for many of the audience how Metallica should have been for so long, just really loud music, stunning riffs by Kirk Hammett and a beat that simply rocked. Lars Ulrich on drums was back to his belligerent best, stopping what he was doing every other song to come and berate playfully the crowd and get them geared up to carry on singing and to enjoy themselves.

It was possibly with tongue in cheek and a certain amount of irony on James Hetfield’s part when he announced to the crowd that even though the new stuff was good what really goes with it well was the old stuff. From there they went straight into the riff crunching Harvester of Sorrow from …And Justice for All and possibly what most critics think is the best anti war song ever One, which was accompanied by the usual crescendo of pyrotechnics.

With hardly a let up between songs it is with wonder where the four members of the band get their energy from as other bands would have gone for a more gentle approach at least once during the gig.

Other songs to be played on the night were the impressive Sad but True from the Black Album (Metallica self titled), The incredible Master of Puppets, which drew huge applause and the M.T.V friendly single Enter Sandman.

Metallica finished an absolute brain buster of an evening with the stand out song from the first studio album Kill ‘Em All, the fantastic crowd pleaser Seek and Destroy during which dozens of inflatable Metallica emblazoned beach balls came down from the roof towards the crowd.

Excellent to see one of metal’s most loved bands back to the top of their game and raising the roof inside venues rather than having their incredible sound lost at outside stadiums.

Ian D. Hall